Gen 12:4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.
When I think of Abram, the verse that most immediately comes to mind is Gen 15:6 “Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” The Abram of Gen 12 with his partial obedience takes a little getting used to. He didn’t go immediately to Canaan as instructed but stopped in Harran. He didn’t leave his family as instructed but took his nephew Lot with him. He didn’t stay in Canaan once he got there as instructed but went to Egypt because of the famine.
Gen 12:10 Now there was famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
I don’t think I realized how much I put fathers of faith on pedestals. Adam was instrumental in the fall, so I never tried to do that with him, but Noah and Abram, in my mind, were above us ordinary folk, so seeing their humanity in Genesis has taken some getting used to. But it has served to reinforce that none of us on earth are perfect and that God can use us all, can do tremendous things with us for His Kingdom—no matter our flaws—if we will allow Him.
Gen 12:13 “Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for this reminder that You can use us if we are willing to do Your will, even if we cannot or do not do it perfectly. Thank You that You can and do use human, fallible people in Your kingdom work. I often feel wholly inadequate for the tasks You have called me to, Lord. Thank You for the reminder that You can do great things with my efforts. Help me, always, to put aside my selfishness and fear and to step out in love and faith as I do Your will. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?”
Have a blessed day.
My faith, my life, my teaching–it's all a work in progress.